Trailers: NIO EL6 vs. NIO EL8 - how the e-cars compare

Electric cars are increasingly establishing themselves as an alternative to the combustion engine that is suitable for everyday use. Despite the current reluctance to buy, the trend towards e-mobility in road transport is unmistakable and ultimately politically desirable.

But how do the electric cars perform when the going gets tough - for example as a towing vehicle for a boat trailer? We wanted to find out and put two electric cars with different trailer loads to the test in practice. However, we encountered initial difficulties as early as the vehicle selection stage. If you look at average towing vehicles, they are predominantly SUVs or large estate cars with towing loads of more than two tonnes. Only for small, open sports boats or inflatable dinghies does the classic mid-range car still suffice.

If you look for such vehicles in the electric version, you quickly become disillusioned. Unlike with combustion engines, the selection of powerful electric towing vehicles is rather modest. Even established German towing vehicle manufacturers such as VW or Mercedes have to pass when it comes to higher trailer loads. Instead, less well-known SUV brands such as Kia or Nio can be found at the top of the electric towing load rankings.

How to trailer boats with the NIO models

It was the Chinese luxury brand Nio that agreed to support us in our endeavour without hesitation. Two Nio SUVs were available to us as test cars. One was a NIO EL6, a so-called compact SUV with a towing capacity of 1.2 tonnes, and its bigger brother, the NIO EL8, a luxury SUV with a towing capacity of 2 tonnes.

We chose two single-axle trailers. One from Harbeck, loaded with a Saxdor 205 with a total weight of 1780 kg, and a Galaxy trailer, loaded with a J 70 sailing boat, which we weighed 1200 kg including trailer on our test scales.

The first major advantage of electric towing vehicles is immediately noticeable when starting off: the high torque. Electric motors deliver their power from a standstill - perfect for moving heavy loads. Starting off at the slipway or on a hill is usually easier with an electric car than with a classic combustion engine. Added to this is the all-wheel drive, which is often fitted as standard and reliably prevents wheel spin on the slip ramp.

The same applies to acceleration in a straight line. In situations where the seven-speed automatic transmission of conventional SUVs first has to adjust to the trailer load, the electric motor revs up more or less unimpressed. The sprint on the acceleration lane of a motorway or the intermediate sprint when overtaking lose their terror with electric vehicles as towing vehicles.

Advantages of choosing an electric car for trailering

Electric vehicles also score points with what is known as recuperation. The vehicle recovers energy when travelling downhill or braking - in theory, this is particularly effective with a heavy trailer. However, only until the overrun brake engages during heavy deceleration. In this case, the additional "thrust" of the trailer dissipates uselessly in the trailer's braking system. In addition, trailer operation often involves long phases with a constant, high load - on the motorway, for example. Recuperation is of little use there.

Nevertheless, there is a plus in efficiency and often also in safety thanks to motorised braking. In many models, the trailer load is also automatically integrated into the assistance systems, for example for lane control or braking behaviour. As soon as the trailer is coupled, the vehicle asks whether it should switch to trailer mode. This is how comfort works today.

Another advantage: electric cars such as our Nios are quieter and have less vibration, which is a real comfort gain, especially on longer journeys, and contributes to relaxation. Comfort and safety also include the Nio's particularly sophisticated video systems with various cameras that monitor the vehicle's surroundings all around and display obstacles or the trailer on the monitor with centimetre precision. When coupling up or in tight manoeuvring situations, they proved to be a real plus point during our test drives. Other digital assistants monitor the entire driving situation and, if required, many functions can be activated via Nio's voice assistant "Nomi".

The range

But there are also downsides. The biggest concern of most trailer captains is the range of electric vehicles. Even without a trailer, this varies greatly, but with a load it drops drastically - in some cases to less than half. Our test drives also focussed on this important point. We coupled our 1.2 tonne test boat to the smaller EL6, and the EL8 even had to prove itself with a 1.8 tonne test weight on the hook. unirst, we took to the country road at a moderate speed (60-80 km/h) due to the traffic conditions. While the EL6 drew around 10 kW from the battery in regular operation, consumption more than doubled when towing a trailer. The on-board computer showed 23 kW. Expressed in kilometres of range, this means that 250 km can be achieved with a trailer. The EL8 particularly surprised us in the lower speed range. At 12 kW without load and around 25 kW with load, it hardly consumed any more than its smaller brother, although the towing capacity was almost 45% higher. And despite a towing load of 1.8 tonnes, the EL8 also achieved the targeted 250 km range.

Read also:

• Car and boat: Which electric cars are suitable for trailering?
• Accessories: Trailer - How the weight affects the maximum payload
• Trailering: How the Ford F-150 Lariat performs with an electric boat in tow

On the motorway, at speeds between 80 km/h and 100 km/h, the picture changed. While both vehicles were still close to each other without a trailer, consuming between 20 kW (EL6) and 24 kW (EL8), the 1.8 tonnes on the hook of the EL8 took a clear toll. With a total power consumption of 65 kW, the two permanent magnet and induction motors drew around 2.7 times the amount of energy from the battery at 100 km/h. The range of the Nio flagship then dwindles to a meagre 138 kilometres. On the other hand, those who take it slower and barely exceed the 80 km/h mark are rewarded with almost 100 km more range. A good deal. The EL6 with 1.2 tonnes on the hook, on the other hand, has a factor of around 2. In plain language: if you are travelling at 100 km/h, you need around 42 kW, which corresponds to a range of 175 km. Relaxed drivers travelling at 80 km/h will have a range of around 200 km to the next charging station.

The infrastructure for e-vehicles

And that brings us to the infrastructure. If you're travelling with a trailer, you can't just use any fast-charging station. The reason: many of them cannot be driven through, are limited at the front or there is not enough space for manoeuvring. This means: uncoupling, charging, coupling again - an effort that costs time and nerves when travelling. We therefore deliberately chose a car park with charging bays in a row to charge our Nios, which offered enough space for our vehicles. The actual charging process then takes around 30 minutes (up to 80 %) thanks to the DC fast charger with up to 240 kW.

Although charging station operators and energy suppliers are increasingly endeavouring to establish special trailer charging stations, they are still rare and cannot be realised everywhere due to the significantly higher space requirements.

When it comes to charging technology, Nio scores with another special feature. In contrast to other makes, the batteries in Nio vehicles can be replaced within a few minutes at so-called swap stations. To do this, you drive into a kind of carport and the empty battery is automatically replaced with a full one from below. This is as quick as refuelling a combustion engine, but is only possible at around 20 swap stations in Germany. Although the Chinese tech group is endeavouring to rapidly expand its range of swap stations, the network is not yet sufficient for trailer captains. For our test drive in the Hamburg area and on the motorway to the Baltic Sea, the nearest swap station would have been in Hanover, for example.

The big picture: Trailering with the NIO EL6 and the NIO EL8

Data check

Net reach

Measurement results on a level, straight stretch of road in Eco mode. EL6 with 1.2 tonne load and 75 kWh battery; EL8 with 1.8 tonne load and 100 kWh battery

Energy consumption

Measurement results on a level, straight road in Eco mode